


When The Dark Knight Falls

by webhead3019



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-31 09:06:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18588112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/webhead3019/pseuds/webhead3019
Summary: In an alternative route TDK trilogy could have taken, Gotham is absent of protection when its hero submits to his first true defeat. The city is up for grabs and there is a resurfacing by none other than the Clown Prince of Crime. Will Batman return to reclaim his place and how far will he have to go in order to truly win?





	1. The Hand That Keeps On Playing

All guns were aimed at the Joker. There were six guns total and they were aimed to kill. He had backed himself in a corner or so it seemed. He once nonverbally claimed to not be one without a plan. One of the GPD officers asked, “Sarge, how are we proceeding here? I didn’t bring these cuffs for nothing, did I?” Sarge responded, “You want orders, soldier? Well, mine are conflicted, so this one’s for my second-in-command. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t plug the bastard right here and now.” The second-in-command responded, “Dunno. Let’s ask the mastermind himself.” The Joker said, “Oh, I wouldn’t do that.” Sarge said, “And now I ask you. What’s one good reason I should do that, prick?”

The Joker said, “Boys in blue, you should know me better by now. I run a tight schedule, but that means I work that much harder. I have a knack for thinking my way out of temporary predicaments. I already have my escape plan, don’t you?” Sarge said, “Yeah. It’s called putting a bullet in between your eyes without a moment’s hesitation.” The Joker asked, “Then why did you hesitate?” Sarge fumed, “Why you snide sonuva—“ The same officer with the cuffs exclaimed, “Sarge! We discovered a backup timer connected to the ventilation shaft... It must have been remote activated the second we broke in.” The Joker said, “Well that doesn’t sound too good... for any of us.”

Sarge turned his attention back to the Joker and spat, “What the hell is he talking about?” The Joker withheld. Sarge said, “Of course. What the hell am I thinking, expecting a straight answer from a batshit crazy like yourself?” He felt up the lining of the Joker’s jacket and pulled out a remote with a blinking antenna. Sarge asked in now escalated vitriol, “What the hell is this?” Joker clicked his cheek, “My bargaining chip.” Sarge said, “Well, I’d like to see how you bargain your way out of this one.” Sarge pressed a gun against the Joker’s cheek and demanded, “Tell me how to deactivate whatever the fuck that is and I won’t reconsider how I empty your brains.”

The Joker stifled a chuckle and said, “That’s not really much of a Plan B you’re giving me, hothead.” A previously quiet officer shouted, “Gas! It’s gas!” The corporal, second-in-command, quickly noted, “The fucker thought of it all and we didn’t even bother to grab our fucking masks on the way up.” The officer with the cuffs cried out, “Not like this! Not like this!” Officers began to fall one after the other, but the sergeant was the farthest from the duct above, so he was the last to feel its constricting effects. Sarge bellowed in a fit of rage, “That’s your fucking way out? Is this your statement, your last fucking laugh? Well, hardy har! You were a class act until your rotten end.”

The Joker said, “No, you’d be wrong about that too, but it is yours. This is your moment to take the stage by surprise, so you might as well get the rest of your one-liners out now. That is, while you still have unblocked access to your windpipe.” Sarge slammed, “You little cock—“ The Joker interrupted, “In case you’re wondering, I might as well let you know. Gas immunity. Comes with the trade.” The officer choked from a clot beginning to form in his throat. Sarge gasped, “Wh-why you...” The Joker apologized, “Sorry, that was supposed to be your line. You might want to make the next one count.” Sarge spit out intoxicated blood and said, “It doesn’t fucking matter. I won’t let you have this last laugh.”

Sarge retightened his grip and said, “I may not have a joke up my sleeve for you, but I can still do the rest of the world one last favor. See you in Hell.” Sarge was about to squeeze the trigger when Joker said, “Not if you get there first.” Joker blew out a projectile he has been pocketing in his cheek. The needle punctured the man in the jugular and it dropped him quicker than the gas did. The Joker admitted, “That tongue in the cheek wasn’t habit. Hairpin. The best escape artists have them.” Joker unveiled his latest trick and the cord suspending him dropped to the ground with ease. He had already loosened its grip in advance. One thing the Joker never played loosely was his offense.

The Joker continued to vocally tirade the dying man’s now helpless ears, “The air here poisons us all. I’m no Superman, even I have my limits. Hell, I even have my faults. I guess you’ll never get the pleasure of knowing any of them. As expected, you bought me the necessary time and not a precious second more. You dropped out to become a military brat. While you arguably consider that to be a respectable decision, what you lacked in brains you made up for in bad decisions. You were dishonorably discharged and your life only went downhill from there. You see, I always do my homework, Sergeant Flag. You should have stayed in school. Contrary to popular belief, you live longer.”

The needle in Flag’s neck was now completely wet with blood. The Joker let up to take note before concluding, “It’s really quite the shame. Not very funny at all now, is it? Sometimes the best jokes aren’t.” Sergeant Flag teared up, more from physical trauma than anything else that came from the Joker’s hand. His inflamed eyes were beginning to inch their way out of the sockets from the built up pressure. The others, half dozen in total, looked to be in far worse shape. The corporal’s eyes had glazed over so bad, you could just barely make out the veins holding them in place. The Joker casually stepped over the downed GPD unit quickly asphyxiating to death. Ever the man with a plan, the Joker made certain the escape he promised.


	2. The Two-Sided Loss

Commissioner James Gordon stood there wide-eyed in disbelief. Harvey Dent’s body lay crippled and lifeless, at the foot of the building undergoing a facelift. Long overdue, the commissioner remarked, “You killed him.” Batman’s gaze had not even yet left Harvey since the moment his body made impact with the ground. He was just as shocked as Gordon was, but he couldn’t show it in his voice. Batman said, “No. The fall did. The fall killed us all.” Commissioner Gordon said, “The sonuvabitch really won. In barely a week’s notice, he turned our city’s white knight against everything he stood for. He didn’t even get to find redemption as a martyr.” Batman said, “The city never wanted a white knight. It wanted blackness and that blackness swallowed the white knight whole.”

Commissioner Gordon said, “This war, it takes a toll on you. It’s a grim truth, but like it or not, it is the truth.” Batman looked away from Harvey and said, “I chose to place my faith in something other than darkness and it was a gamble that we all now pay. I wanted to believe I was no longer needed, that someone as equally conflicted as me could no longer be needed. I wanted to believe that the literal and metaphorical leeches that have plagued this damned town since day one could be tended to and at long last eradicated by a hand other than my own. The most ironic part of it all is I never stopped anything, even before Harvey Dent came into play.” Commissioner Gordon said, “Y’know, you shouldn’t beat yourself up so bad.”

Batman asked, “Why would you say that?” Gordon explained, “I get the gist you still have a lot to learn about the web of Gotham, so take it from a tough guy like me. Just think of it as something like the Hydra from Greek mythology. You sever one head and two more grow the fuck back. You have to have a real solid pair on you, because there comes a moment where you have to tell yourself you’re only delaying the inevitable. This city implodes on itself on the daily, but it’s worse now than it’s ever been. Gotham truly has fallen. Definitive speaking. It was a tireless duty, to serve a shitting ground that even the bowels of Hell had no choice but to cast out. It never payed well enough and now we’re the ones who are paying. Ironic.”

Batman said, “This forever marks the day where both the dark and white knights were deemed unworthy of the city they had selflessly sworn to serve. Harvey lost because he gave too much of his self and I lost, because I stopped to think. To think I even had a self to call upon again. I now know that part of me is dead, so it’ll never bother me again. It’s the least of my bothers, because today also marks the day everything died.” Commissioner Gordon asked, “It’s funny, isn’t it? The quip Gotham means to dig into us.” Batman said, “I fail to see the punchline.” Commissioner Gordon explained, “There is no line. It’s a goddamn punch to the gut.” Batman asked, “There’s the black cynicism you were missing. What will you do now?”

Commissioner Gordon said, “I’m not going to turn my badge if that’s what you’re wondering. Gotham may be unfixable, but the best someone like me can do is pick up the pieces. I don’t know about you but for me, it’s personal. I was born and raised in this town. I’ll be damned if I let it die before I do. Besides where has brooding ever gotten anyone?” Batman said, “It’s gotten them closest to accepting the truth. That to blindly sell your heart and soul to a cause beyond you means to self-imprison.” Commissioner Gordon sideswiped, “Whatever. You seem intent on hanging up the cape. Where will you go?” Batman said, “I don’t know. This is the most uncertain I’ve ever been.” Batman continued, “Everything I thought I knew has been overturned.”

Commissioner Gordon asked, “Will you be back?” Batman said, “Only if I’m as every bit of a fool as you.” Commissioner Gordon asked, “There’s no slim chance I can’t have a peek under that fucking cowl of yours, is there? I’m asking you, because this might be our last time meeting like this.” Batman said, “I guess old habits die hard too.” Commissioner Gordon said, “I’ll see you around then, but you should know. It doesn’t have to be like this.” Batman said, “Trust me when I say the best fight that could ever be fought against darkness is with more darkness. Darkness has no qualms, regardless of how its fought.” Batman tacked on a cryptic note, “Damn. I only wish I realized that before it was too late.” Either Batman or Gordon could have said it.

Neither said it, because neither had to. It’s always too late. Gordon’s crusade may have been the longer of the two, but that didn’t make Batman’s crusade any less knowledgeable. He took one last look at Harvey, but that was all Batman had left to say. With that, Batman fled the scene. Commissioner Gordon watched on and thought out loud “You were meant to be our hero. You still are. You’ll be back. You’re too goddamn stubborn.” Police sirens and the sounds of K-9 units could be heard following close behind Batman’s exit. Jimmy Gordon Jr. wasn’t far behind himself, but his father stopped him dead in his tracks. Jimmy fought with intensity and gasped, “Let me go! Wait, Batman! Batman! I don’t understand! He saved us, so why’s he running dad?”

Commissioner Gordon said, “Because we have to chase him.” Jimmy retaliated, “He didn’t do anything wrong!” Commissioner Gordon looked down at Harvey Dent again. No one can ever know the ugly truth. Harvey Dent will have to be made into a martyr. It’s the least Commissioner Gordon can do to not tarnish the city’s legacy any further. Jimmy Sr. let out a heavy sigh and responded, “Because he’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we’ll hunt him... because he can take it. Because he’s not our hero. He’s a silent guardian... a watchful protector... a dark knight.” Gordon paused and reassured his son, “If the city calls to him in the night, he’ll be back. He’ll have to be. It’s something ingrained in him by nature.”


End file.
